Chemical apparatus



pt- 1944. c. c. FEGLEY ,ETAL 2,357,943

CHEMIGAL APPARATUS Filed June 10, 1941 41: 3. 4 Cgiy Gezzfl R b INVENTORS Cheser 2% /4 ATTUKNEY Patented Sept. 12, 1944 CEEMICAL APPARATUS Clote' C. Feley. D'exel Hill, and Glem D. Robenden, Pa.. aior to E. I. du Pot de Nemura a Company. Wllninton, Del., a corporation of Delwre Application June 10, 1011. serial No. 897374 This invention relates to chemical apparatus and is particularly directed to new and useful improvements in porous tube filters useful in nltration of corrosive chemical solutions.

Porous tube :filters are commonly used in chemical processes where, due to corrosion, temperature or other physical and chemical conditions, the usual types of filters are unsuitable. These filters are usually operated under pressure or vacuum and in their usual commercial form consist oi' a plurality of hollow. cylindrical, porous tubes arransed in a suitable pressure vessel so that the interior of the tubes communicate with a low-pressure chamber into which the flltrate is collected.

The usefulness of the porous tube filters heretofore available has been limited in that they are generally undesirable for filtering liquids containing any appreciable volume of solide or under circumstances in which solids pack down between the tubes. Thus it has been observed that in certain operations as in the clariflcation of hot alun liquors accumulation of solids between the filter tubes limits the usetulness of such filters due to excesslve tube breakage and to dimculties in backwashine. Thua we have observed that when such filters are utilized with more concentrated suspensions there is a tendency for the solids to settle out unevenly over the illter surface and to. cause an unequal distribution of pressure on the several porous tubes. While this may be avoided by increasinz the spacing between the tubes, such modiiications introduce other undesirable features such as higher cost, less fleibiiity in washins" and solids removai, and other difllculties in fluid flow and equipment operation.

It is an object of this invention to providean improved porous tube filter. It is another object of the invention to avoid the dimculties of the prior art. It is still another obiect of the invention to prevent iilter tube breaksge. It is still another object of the invention to avoid unbaianced pressures between the filter tubes. It is another object of the invention to enlare the useiulness of a porous tube filter. It is still another object of the invention to provide a porous tube filter suitable to Operations involvin` removal of appreciabie quantities of solids as compared with the ususl Operations involving only final ciarificatian, polishin. or the removal of relatively small quntities of solide. It is still another object of the invention to provide improved backwshin. It is still another object ot the invention to provide for more complete removai of accumulated soll from the filter.

It is still another object of the invention to reduce the quantity of backwash water required for sluicing the accumulated solide. st further obiects oi' the invention will appear hereinafter.

These obiects are accompiished by the following invention in which Figur-e 1 is an elevation in partia! section: Figure 2 is a sections] plan view: Figure 3 is a. longitudinal section of a porous tube assembly: and Figure 4 is a perspective of the gasiet as shown in Figure 3.

The apparatus illustrated in these figures is illustrative of e. typical modification ot the invention. This filter is made up of a cylindrical pressure vessei I constructed and arranged to be divided into an inlet. or high-pressure chamber, and an outlet or low pressure chamber, by a. plurality of porous tubes 2. These tubes are disposed in the vessel as indicated in Figure 2, and are supported between the lower tube sheet 3 and the upper tube sheet 4. The upper tube sheet 4 forms the top of the vessel l and is secured to the cylinder I by suitable i'astening means B. It is provided with a plurality of apertures of the size and shape of the tubes 2 so that the tubes may be inserted into or withdrawn from the vessel l. This construction is best seen at 1. Figure 1. The tubes 2 are supported in annular grooves I in the bottom tube sheet l and rest on resilient gaskets i located in these grooves. The lower tube sheet i forms the bottom of the high-pressure chamber which is otherwise deflned by the cylinder i, the walls of the porous tubes 2 and the upper tube sheet 4. The tubes 2 are of such length that they terminate midway of the upper tube sheet 4 and are sealed therein by means of the resilient gaskets lil and il and the closure means I! and ll. The annulamember M is so arranged as to communicate pressure from the cover I! to the askets I, ID. and II. Thua the tubes are secured in place by clamping down the cover I! by the iastening means li. The cover i! is provided with an aperture communicatins with the interier of tubes 2. This aperture is closed by the removable closure Il' adapted to be clamped in place by the festeners i'l. i

The low pressure or outlet chamber is formed by the bottom I! and the 'lower tube sheet 3. The two are fastened together and fastened to the bottom of the cylinder 5 by suitable fasteners I! and the whole is mounted on suitable support II. The bottom tube sheet 3 is provided with apertures !I to form a communication between the low-pressure chamber and interier of the tubes I. 'ri-lus liquid filtering thru the porous plished by ,trated in Flgures 1 3 charged with a tubes I runs down thru apertures !I into the outlet ehamber whence they may be drawn of! thru outlet 22. This outlet is complementary to the inlet 23 and communication is had thru the pores oi the porous tubes 2. Also complementary to the outlet 22 is the baciwash drain 24.

It has been the practice heretorore to use single tubes which were intact from the gasket I to the gasket II. We have found, however, that such tubes are liable to breakage due to unbalancing of pressure when the filter is operated with relatively concentrated suspension. We have now found that this pressure unbalance can be equalized and tube breakage avoided by torming the tube of two sections I--a and 2-b and inserting the resilient gasket II. Thus when the tube elements a and b are in position as shown in Figura 1, the gaskets 9, ill, and il are under compression and the tube elements are held normally alined in vertical position but are free to ilex in any direction within the limits of the flexibility o! the gaskets 9, ie, and ii. Hence the tube is free to flex one way or another as may be required to equalize unbalanced pressures which may rise due to uneven accumulation of sollds in the space between the tubes.

The gasket IS may be of any suitable design and should be associated with means !or keeping the tube elements o and b in alinenent with their ends properly seated on the gasket. In the form of the invention shown this is accomthe tubular ilanges !I and !8. formed integral with the inner periphery with the gasket Il and so arranged as to fit snugly in the ends of the tube elements a and b.

Thus the tube elements 2-a and 2-?) are allned on a common axis with their adiacent ends united by a resilient seal and with their opposite ends cushioned on resilient seals. .As long as the tube assembly includes at least three such seals it will be free to flex under the influence of unbalanced pressm'e.

Further to increase ability oi the illter to handle relatively concentrated suspension and thereby to make lt practical to utilize the increased capacity made possible by means oi the constru'ction described. we have provided means for facilitating the repulping'ot the filter cake so that backwashing may be made easier. complete remove] of a filter cake can be obtained and the quantity of backwash held low enough to prevent excessive losees. Also, by making it possible easily to remove the filter cake completely, the tendency ior it to build up unevenly between the filter tubes is re'duced and with it the consentient tendency for pressure unbclsnce in the flitet. We have found that these ends may be accomplished simply and eflectively by locating in the fllter adjacent to the bottom tube sheet I suitable means i'or dlrecting lets oi fluid under p'essu'e into the spaces between the filter tubes during the backwash.

suitable apparatus tor this purpose is illusand 2 where adiacent the bottom tube sheet 3 there are located a number oi' perforatedpipes 21 which communicate with a maniiold I! which in tum communicates with the inlet pipe :a thru which a fluid, liquid or gas may be introduced under suflicient pressure completely to reslun-y the filter cake during the backwash. The periorations may be so iocated as to direct the lets downwardLv toward the bottom tube sheet 3 and lateralLv in between the various tubes so that when the filter is limited quantity oi backwash the filter cake can be completely repulped and drawn otr thru the backwash drain 24. This repulping of the filter cake may be eflected in this manner completely with liquor introduced as backwah rrom the low-pressure chamber or introduced thru the inlet !3 or backwash drain 24. In an! case, the amount of backwash thus required completely to remove the filter cake is lowered. The repulplng is done simultaneously with the letting ot air or other fluid into the vessel as described.

The solide filtered build up as a cake more or less uniformly over the surface of the filter tubes 2 with some tendency for the more heavy accumulations to form near the bottom oi the tubes. When this cake is stripped oti by the backwash thru the tubes it tends to accumuiate in rather large pieces on the tube sheet 3 where it is broken up in and repulped by the turbulence created by .letting a fluid onto the bottom tube sheet i as described. Hence in the apparatus oi' our invention lt is no longer necessary to employ sufllcisiit quantity oi backwash to sluice out the sediment which accumulates in the bottom in -elatlvely large amounts but rather by violently disperslng and disrupting such accumulations all the collected solide may be sluiced out with relatively small quantities oi' backwash.

The apparatus is customarily suitable !or filtering hot or corrosive liquid and may be provided with a suitable corrosion-resistant lining as illustrated at 30, and the various gaskets l, ll, and ii may be constructed ot suitably corrosionand heat-resisting, flexible, compressible material such as rubber and various synthetic products having rubber-like properties.

The tube elements 2-a and 2--b may be oi unequal length. Suitably the ratio of the tube elements may vary from 1:1 to 2:1, but it is uiiderstood that the lnvention in its broader aspects is not so limited as the invention is operative without these limits. The invention admits ot spacing the tubes relatively close together and economy of maintenance and design may be obtained if the tube centers are not spaced more than about two diameters apart and more desh-- ably i! the tubes do not occupy more than about one-half the area of the lower tube sheet.

We claim:

i. A porous tube filter comprising an upright* cylindrical vessel, a horizontally disposed tube sheet adapted to divide said vessel into upper and lower chambers, a plurality of apertures in said tube sheet. means centering and scaling a porous tube over each of said apertures and means for scaling the upper ends of said porous tubes whereby the upper chamber is separated !rom the lower ciamber by the walls oi said porous tubes and the liquidis tree to flow !rom one chamber into' the other only through the walla oi said porous tubes, a plurality ot periorated tubes each having one end closed and the other communicating with a header disposed on said tube sheet and in between and normal to said porous tubes. and means for injusting a fluid under pressure into said header during the backwash of said filter.

2. In a porous tube filter having a multiplicity oi parallel porous tubes having their ends resiliently anchored against radlal movement and being so closely spaced that accumulaton ofiiite' cake on the outside of the tubes tends to cause n unequal distribution o! pressure on said tube. the combination therewith of means intermediate the length oi said tubes permittlng radial displaeement oi said porous tubes to equa'liae said sure chamber and a. low

&367.948

mente aligned on a common axis having their abutting edges united by a. resilient seal and each ot which has its free ends sealed in the filter structure by a -esilent seul.

4. A porous tube filter comprising a plurality of paraileliy disposed tube eesembliee camped ethet between two tube sheets and so ciosely spaced that'eccumuation or filter cake on the outside of the tube: tends to cause an unequal distribution of pressure on said tubes, said tube assemblies eachoomp'lsig at least two eprte tubesectionslgnedoeommnxisndepmovement and being eo cloely opened that ccumuation ot filter cake on the outside tube: tends to cause en unequal distribution pressure on said tbe, the combintion therewith of means intermediate the length tubes and between the end: o! said tube: and the filter structure nei-mutin: !adini dlsploement ot said porous tube: intermediate oi' their length whereby to equeline said presure. said meam constituting resiient compressibe nnulm c. mam.

GLENN n. ROBINSON.

CER'I'IFICATE OF CORRECTIOH.

Patent No. 2,357,9L.

September 12 19%- CHESTER c. mem, ET u..

It is her-aby certifed that; error appears in the printod apecltcton of the above numbered patent requiring correctionu tollona ?ago 2, nocond column, line 614., claim 1, for- "injusting" read --1nJect1ng--; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to .the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 27th day of, March, A. D. 191 5.

(Seul) Leslie Frazer Acting commiaaioner of Patenta.

` sure chamber and a. low

&367.948

mente aligned on a common axis having their abutting edges united by a. resilient seal and each ot which has its free ends sealed in the filter structure by a -esilent seul.

4. A porous tube filter comprising a plurality of paraileliy disposed tube eesembliee camped ethet between two tube sheets and so ciosely spaced that'eccumuation or filter cake on the outside of the tube: tends to cause an unequal distribution of pressure on said tubes, said tube assemblies eachoomp'lsig at least two eprte tubesectionslgnedoeommnxisndepmovement and being eo cloely opened that ccumuation ot filter cake on the outside tube: tends to cause en unequal distribution pressure on said tbe, the combintion therewith of means intermediate the length tubes and between the end: o! said tube: and the filter structure nei-mutin: !adini dlsploement ot said porous tube: intermediate oi' their length whereby to equeline said presure. said meam constituting resiient compressibe nnulm c. mam.

GLENN n. ROBINSON.

CER'I'IFICATE OF CORRECTIOH.

Patent No. 2,357,9L.

September 12 19%- CHESTER c. mem, ET u..

It is her-aby certifed that; error appears in the printod apecltcton of the above numbered patent requiring correctionu tollona ?ago 2, nocond column, line 614., claim 1, for- "injusting" read --1nJect1ng--; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to .the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 27th day of, March, A. D. 191 5.

(Seul) Leslie Frazer Acting commiaaioner of Patenta. 

